Better Than Hearsay
by Myaru
Summary: Amou tries to rope Kahoko into helping her with a story, and learns to regret it when Yunoki gets involved.


**Better Than Hearsay  
By:** Amber Michelle

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_This was inspired somewhat by my play-through of the first game – Amou grills you on Yunoki's character somewhere in the middle if you're chasing after him, but they don't interact very much other than that. _

_Also, I like Amou – I think she's cute, and could be fun to write. It's just hard to pull myself away from my favorite pairing._

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"It happened right when the semester started. Can you believe that?" Amou poked at her melon ice with a neon pink straw, swirling the whipped cream into a spiral and turning her drink into pale green slush. Birds chirped from the trees, and the sun shined more brightly than it had any right to. "September twenty-fifth, exactly. The guy at the repair shop said they have to send it somewhere else, because they don't take cameras that old..."

Across their little round table, Kahoko cut a triangle out of her lemon tart. "But the Journalism club has extras, right? I thought having your own camera was pretty rare." A breeze ruffled her bangs, made them glint red and fiery orange in a slanting shaft of sunlight that would've made for a fabulous photo - the other girl would stand out just perfectly against the bland beige and white of the cafe patio, and the green-striped decor. It practically glowed on her pale skin, the white collar of her uniform shirt, and her dark umber coat--

-- was new. Amou leaned forward, straw poised over the lip of her glass. New, and really nice, definitely a brand name - she'd seen a cut just like it in a magazine somewhere. It was way too fancy for wearing to school. That wasn't Kahoko's style at all.

"In fact, the digital kind would almost be better, if you're putting the newspaper together with--" Kahoko looked up, blinked. "Amou?"

"Sorry." Nami sat back and let her straw sink into the slush. "You're right. It's just not the same, is all." The two tables beside them were empty, their green and white umbrellas fluttering in another breeze. Two music freshmen hunched over another table by the cafe window, scribbling on the gibberish of their music scores. Chocolate would've been nice, just then. Smooth, warm drinking chocolate, or a box of those truffles at the register. She bit her lip. "It's just... there's something coming up that I would've liked to have my own camera for. See, our final project this semester is big names among the graduating seniors, and since I was so involved with you guys last semester, I was asked to do the two concours boys. So this is all just to ask... kind of... if you could help me with that? Especially with Yunoki?"

Kahoko paused, a spoonful of lemon custard halfway to her mouth. "W-why Yunoki?"

"He gives you a ride home every day. You must be good friends." Nami grinned when the other girl drew back. Was that red in her cheeks, or just the sun? Maybe color reflected from the deep shade of her suspiciously new coat? "Please? He clams up faster than Tsukimori and runs like hell."

Kahoko flattened her lips together, but a smile tried to creep through. "I don't think I've ever seen him run."

"No, he _strolls_, I guess, and his fangirls make me do the running - in the other direction."

A smile did break through, but Kahoko stuffed the spoon into her mouth and chewed much longer than necessary. "Maybe you should do an article on them - like, what kind of demoralizing effect will his graduation have on the girls in the music department? They'll just die."

Nami barked a laugh, staring at her, and covered her mouth when the other students looked over. "That's worth a whole year of articles." She scooted her chair closer to the table. The loud scrape made her wince, but she leaned over, pulled a mouthful of melon slush through her straw, and said, "I didn't expect that kind of sarcasm out of my sweet little Kaho."

"Amou!" Red flushed Kahoko's face. It was like someone had doused her in paint. She fidgeted in her chair, digging a huge bite out of her pastry and looking away. Poor Kaho - she embarrassed so easily it was almost unfair. "I'm not being sarcastic," she muttered. "They're crazy."

"I know. If only I had first years serving _me_ tea every break. I wonder how they decide who gets to make lunch for him on any given day."

Kahoko shook her head. "Anyway, if he doesn't want to talk..."

"Please? Just try once."

"Maybe you should do Hihara's profile first." Kahoko looked down at her plate, but her eyes swept back and forth, lingering on a point somewhere behind Nami before she said more softly, "When they're together."

Nami chewed her bottom lip. She needed to talk to Hihara anyway, and he never turned her down for simple stuff like this. He didn't take any of the surveys she handed out earlier in the year, but he did answer all of her questions about the concours, and she could ask him how he met Yunoki, at least, maybe get part of the-- _Oh_. "Hey, that's a great idea!" Kahoko smiled at her lemon tart, and Nami clapped her hands together and bowed. "I'm in your debt! I should've known you'd have a better answer. After all--" She steepled her fingers, leaning forward on her elbows. "You _are_ awfully _good_ friends with Yunoki..."

"Correct. We are," another voice said. Kahoko swallowed hard, still red-faced. Nami twisted around in her seat to look behind her, but she knew who it was; Yunoki's voice was very distinctive: soft, precisely neutral, tenor. He circled around her to stand next to Kahoko, his black coat folded over his arm. "Good friends, that is." And he smiled, the angle of the sun making his face glow. "I have an appointment with Hino at five, and it's--"

"Fifteen minutes!" Kahoko said quickly, looking up. "I can see the clock from here."

Nami took another pull of her melted melon slush, eyes flicking back and forth between them. He raised his eyebrows, maybe skeptical - Kahoko was late almost every day, Nami would give him that much credit for suspicion - and Kahoko hunched down over her half-finished tart. Yunoki sighed, and said something under his breath Nami couldn't catch, but Kahoko's shoulders relaxed a little bit.

Hm. Yes. 'Good friends.' If Nami were a real journalist she'd take a crack at the story flirting with her from across the table, but she was too soft; imagining Kahoko's expression once she saw it in print made her stomach sink. She was so bad at handling rumors.

It just figured. First her camera went to the shop, and now this tempting tidbit of information was going to slip through her fingers.

"So." Nami dug into her purse for a pad of paper and a pen. She flipped to the first empty page and looked up at Yunoki. "Since you're here..."

"This again?" He pulled out a chair from the next table and moved it close to Kahoko, his smile getting thinner, his lips whitening. "You deserve credit for persistence."

"It's an assignment. I have to get it done one way or another and primary sources are always better than hearsay." Nami tucked hair behind her ear, crossing her legs under the chair, pen poised above the paper. "I can interview council members for your activity in school politics, and I have my notes from the concours, but there are a few questions I have that won't be answered that way, and-- I'm betting the student body _really_ wants to know."

Yunoki snorted, and Kahoko lowered her spoon. "Amou, maybe--"

"It's fine, Kahoko. Finish your pastry."

Nami's eyebrows shot up, and Kahoko blushed again, looked away. _First name basis_, god, she didn't think they were that close, and she couldn't write about it! Why did she have a conscience? Why was she listening to it?

"You have ten minutes," Yunoki said, his tone sharp, jolting Nami back to reality. His smile was gone. "Give me a list of the questions you want to ask, and I'll tell you which ones I'm willing to answer. How is that?"

"That'd be great," Nami said. His tone fixed a chill in her chest. A Yunoki without his smile looked-- strange. "First, I heard that Seisou was not your family's first choice of high schools, and I'm curious about why you chose to attend." His eyes narrowed - just slightly, but she saw it because the sun deepened the shadows cast by his long eyelashes, and the subtle shift in expression made Nami think he was frowning, though he didn't go that far. He crossed his arms, and she swallowed, gripping her pen more tightly.

This was her job. She'd never get a better break, so she couldn't let him intimidate her out of it.

"Right." Nami made herself continue, fixing her gaze on the notepad and trying not to note the widening of Kahoko's eyes, or think about how appalled she looked. "Then-- about choices of university..."

She really wanted to chicken out, though. Just this once.

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End file.
